Turning the Key
by Wayfinder1314
Summary: The fight has been passed to a new generation. When Destiny Islands falls, only Sora and Taika manage to find each other. With the two determined to find their friends, Heartless swarming, and more Worlds falling to the Abyss, Taika begins to learn what it really means to be a Sentinel. [[Sentinels of Darkness Part Three]]
1. Destiny Islands

Black sneakers pounded on the sand as the girl ran along the beach. The wind howled around her, pulling at her clothes and whipping her hair about. She tried to call out but the storm tore her words from her lips and they went unheard. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked and the girl poured on a desperate burst of speed - even as she ran, she knew that she would be too late.

Taika gasped as she woke abruptly, she hadn't even realized that she'd dozed off while waiting for her friends. She rubbed at her eyes as she sat up; she didn't really remember it, but her dream had left her feeling a little lost, and lonely. Sighing, Taika flopped back down, her black hair flaring out around her slightly and played idly with the red streak in her hair.

"Tai." Taika looked up at the voice and grinned at the silver haired boy standing above her. "Don't tell me you've been slacking off, Sora and Kairi do that enough as it is."

Taika halfheartedly tossed a handful of sand at him as she sat up again. "You're the one that's late, Riku."

He batted the few grains of sand that made it to him away with the back of his hand, "I am not late, you just got here early."

"Sure I did." Taika teased, standing and brushing the sand off her dark grey capris. "I'll go find Kairi and Sora and then meet you at the raft, 'kay?"

"Sounds good to me." Riku agreed, "But if I find out that you just joined them in their slacking then I'll just have to go on the raft all by myself."

"You say that now, but you'd miss us if we weren't around." Riku rolled his eyes a little bit, but didn't respond otherwise, and headed off with Taika on his heels.

They found Sora and Kairi on the beach, the two teasing each other slightly. "Then what are we waiting for?" The two heard, catching the tail end of Kairi's question.

"Hey!" Riku called. "Aren't you guys forgetting about us?" Taika grinned at the almost sheepish expressions on their friends' faces.

"I guess we're the only ones working on the raft." Taika was going to say more, but she was cut off by Sora's yelp as Riku tossed the log he had been carrying at the boy, sending him sprawling.

"And you're just as lazy as he is!" He accused Kairi, shaking his finger at the laughing girl.

"So you noticed." Kairi giggled, her sapphire eyes bright. "Okay, we'll finish it together!" Riku sat down next to Sora, which made Taika roll her eyes - since apparently she was the only one who noticed the way the redhead was bouncing from foot to foot. "Race you!"

"Huh? - What, are you kidding?" Sora and Riku's exclamations overlapped each other.

Kairi laughed and Taika couldn't contain her own snicker. "Ready? Go!" Sora and Riku glanced at each other quickly, then jumped to their feet and raced off down the Beach, Kairi following them and Taika laughing at all of them, even as she caught up with Sora.

Taika split her time between her three friends; Riku finishing up the raft, Kairi cataloging supplies, and Sora running around gathering the things they still needed. They even had a race to decide what the raft would be called - Riku won, earning the name Highwind for their raft.

The setting sun found the four of them at their Paopu Tree; Kairi, Sora, and Taika sitting on the curved trunk, while Riku leaned against it next to Taika. "So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora broke the comfortable silence, leaning forward to see around Taika and looking at Riku; Kairi leaned forward a bit as well on Sora's other side.

"Could be. We'll never know by staying here." The silver haired boy responded with a shrug.

"But how far could a raft take us?" Taika asked, staring out at the horizon, the limit of their World. She knew that other Worlds existed… but could they really be reached on a little raft? Were they connected like that? Or were the Worlds more separate?

"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"So, suppose we get to another world." Kairi giggled "What would you do there?"

Riku looked up at the sky, "Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could've just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"  
"I don't know." Taika shrugged. "But I also don't think anyone's life is so purposeless that they were just randomly thrown onto a random World."  
"Exactly." Riku nodded. "That's why we need to go out there; to find out. Just  
sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go."  
"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi commented, pressing her hands to her knees as she leaned forward.  
"It's thanks to you, Kairi. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never  
thought of any of this." Taika grinned at Riku's words, remembering vaguely the time when the boy had first mentioned wanting to travel the Worlds - it was shortly before Kairi had come to the Islands. Kairi's presence may have made him more determined, but it was by no means the source of his interest with the other Worlds.

Kairi laughed and jumped off the tree. "It's getting late, we should head back." Taika joined her and the girls walked off down the boardwalk, leaving Sora and Riku behind after bidding them farewell.

The next evening Taika lay on her bed, staring at the constellations painted on her ceiling. The day had been fun; they finished up preparations on the raft, Sora had come back from a supply run a little subdued, though, and for some reason Taika herself was feeling apprehensive.

Maybe it was just nerves - they were planning on setting off tomorrow, after all.

A crash of thunder made the black haired girl jump - a storm had come up out of nowhere and rain lashed against the window. Taika sat up, her eyes wide. "Oh no…" She jumped off the bed and went over to a locked wooden box sitting on her desk; unlocking the box with the silver key that hung on a chain around her neck, Taika gently pulled a stained glass star from the box and slipped it into the pouch on her belt before running out of her room and down the stairs. She stopped only long enough to pull her black sneakers on and give her mom a tight hug, then she went out into the storm, her mother's questions lost to the wind.

She met Sora at the Dock of the Play Island and the two of them noticed the other two boats already tied to the shore; Riku and Kairi were already here. A dark orb seemed to be the source of the storm, floating low in the sky just off the beach. The two glanced at each other, then started running, hoping to find their friends.

Yellow eyes blinked from everywhere, shadows rising up to create the bodies of small monsters; Taika shivered slightly, but not from the cold. Sora's wooden sword did nothing against the monsters, and Taika didn't have a weapon of her own, so their only option was to keep on running and hope to avoid the solid shadows.

Sora broke off to look for Kairi and Taika continued towards the beach, her feet sinking into the sand and slowing her down. Lightning flashed and thunder followed inseparable from it. "Riku?!" She screamed, the wind tearing her words away. She slowed as she reached the beach; the silver-haired boy was standing knee deep in the water, watching the storm rage impassively.

"Once we set through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again." Riku turned to face her. "There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the Darkness!" he held out a hand. "Come with me Tai."

Something black started bubbling up around Riku's feet and a chill of fear stole over Taika. "No!" She lunged forward, reaching for her friend's hand. "Riku!" A split second before she reached him, a bolt of black lightning shot down and hit Taika; her last sight was Riku's eyes widening minutely as the ground gave out from underneath her and she fell with a scream.


	2. Dive into the Heart

_**...One… Sentin… mit ... of… ika Shin…**_

Taika groaned soundlessly, her entire body ached and she clung to unconsciousness; it hurt to much to be awake just yet.

 _ **...equ… Darkness… tests… all… found… wor…**_

Finally, unable to fight it any longer, Taika opened her eyes - she was floating in an endless expanse of black. She looked at her hands, as though checking that she was still in one piece, then rubbed her eyes and face. Her memories were kind of fuzzy, but she was almost certain that something had gone terribly wrong.

… _**The final trial begins now.**_

Taika gasped slightly as her perception shifted and she realized that she was not floating, but falling gently, only to touch down a moment later on a large platform in several shades of purple with gold highlights depicting a large battlefield.

 _Well done._

Taika looked around as three pedestals appeared - one holding a sword, one a shield, and the last a staff.

 _You must take one up, and cast one away._

Taika immediately stepped over to the shield.

 _The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?_

"Yes." a warmth settled into her Heart as the shield dissolved. She glanced back and forth between the remaining two artifacts. "I wonder which one Ember chose…" She mused, thinking about the young woman she had come to know over the years; Ember's laughter echoed in her mind - this was her decision, not Ember's. Finally she walked over to the staff.

 _The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?_

Taika nodded firmly and the staff too dissolved. The pedestals and sword vanished, to be replaced by three figures, watching her.

 _Tell me about yourself._

She approached the first figure - a slender woman with platinum blonde hair. _**What do you want out of life?**_ She inquired.

Taika nearly laughed, suddenly remembering the evening she had met Ember. "I want to travel, to see the Worlds." Her grin changed to one a little softer. "I want to make friends… and to be able to protect them." The woman smiled and inclined her head regally, fading away as she did so.

The second figure was a middle-aged man with shoulder length brown hair, graying at the temples, with the top layers pulled back. _**What is your greatest fear?**_

Taika swallowed. "Of losing all that I've gained - what I will gain." He made as if to grab her shoulder comfortingly but he faded away even as he reached for her.

The third was a petite girl with eyes like sapphires and choppy black hair. _**What are you fighting for?**_

Taika fell silent for a long moment, then brushed her hair out of her face. "For my friends, mostly." She answered. "The Worlds are dangerous, and we have been pulled into this. I can't protect the people I love if I don't fight." The girl grinned at her and nodded proudly before fading away.

A Keyblade appeared in her hand - purple feathers and oxidized gold. _Fallen Angel._ Taika was examining the weapon when something in her peripheral made her turn just in time to block a Keyblade of black metal and white crystal.

Startled charcoal eyes looked into molten gold ones. "Let's see what you've got." Ember challenged; Taika's eyes widened even further and the older girl chuckled. "You've got this, fireling; this isn't a test of strength. It's a test of Heart." Taika set her jaw and nodded; Ember grinned, disengaged, and attacked again.

Taika knew that the redheaded Sentinel was barely using a fraction of her skill and power, but even so she was struggling to just hold her own. Between one moment and the next, Ember disarmed Taika, sending her stumbling backwards as her Keyblade clattered to the floor.

Ember stepped on the feather teeth of Taika's keyblade, gazing at her with gentle expectation, "Well?" she asked, "What now?" Taika knew what she was asking: Was she going to give up?

Her expression hardened into a glare and nonexistent purple flames reflected in her eyes. With a gleam of silver and red, a Keyblade with flames on the handle appeared in her left hand even as she reached forward with her right and summoned Fallen Angel from beneath Ember's foot. "Impressive." Ember complimented as the younger girl rose both Keyblades. "But can you use both of them?"

Taika's response was a flurry of attacks, purple flames trailing from her feet and weapons. Ember's Keyblade clattered to the ground and the redhead tilted her head back as the point of Taika's silver Keyblade rested at her throat.

Ember grinned at the startled girl; "I told you you could do it." she praised.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Ember." Taika lowered her Keyblade and smiled brightly.

"Sure you could have." Ember corrected, "But thanks for letting me be a part of it." Taika let her Keyblades vanish as the older girl stepped forward to put her hands on the other's shoulders. "I'm sorry this fight has fallen to you and your friends," she whispered sadly, "I never wanted -"

"You all did your best, Ember." Taika interrupted. "It's not your fault."

"It's not going to be easy," Ember warned.

"But it will be worth it." Taika finished for her and Ember smiled as they both remembered the day they had met. Gold eyes glittering, Ember pulled Taika forward slightly to place a gentle kiss on the girl's forehead.

The image beneath them turned white for a moment, then melted away into smoke and ribbons of light that floated upwards; Ember dissolved into red and gold sparks that melded with the tendrils of light.

 _Your path begins at Twilight. Take courage from the Darkness and work towards the light._

The mists faded away to reveal a stained glass window; orange, red, and purple, with a beach at sunset in the background, and Taika sitting in profile, her keyblades hanging comfortably in her hands.

 _Good Luck._


	3. Traverse Town

Writers block is the worst.

On the bright side there are 184 more days before I get to play Kingdom Hearts III! I am so excited, I need a Time Machine to jump to the future and play it NOW!

Who else is going to cry (or did cry, depending on when you read this) when Dearly Beloved starts playing and we get to hear the full version of Don't Think Twice? 'Cause I know I am.

* * *

Taika opened her eyes and pulled herself up from her slouched position with a faint groan; then blinked in confusion at the deserted courtyard surrounded by high walls that she was in. "How did I get here?" She muttered to herself as she stood, "And where is 'here' anyways?" The memory of what had happened to Destiny Islands hit her and she leaned weakly against the wall at her back. She had hoped that it was just a nightmare. "Riku?!" She called but she only heard her own voice echoing back faintly. "Kairi?" Again there was nothing but her own echo. "Sora!?" There was no answer, but a faint sound made Taika jump a split second before a swarm of Shadows materialized.

Taking a deep breath, Taika summoned Fireheart with a flick of her wrist and settled into a fighting stance. "Oh-kay… here's where it begins." Taika voiced, beginning to strike at the Heartless - now more grateful than ever that she had convinced Sora and Riku to let her spar with them when they had started all those years ago. The Shadows were easy enough to deal with, but slowly the Heartless began to get more complex and Taika began to struggle. "Ember… help me… this is harder than I thought." There was a comforting thrum from her pouch, which settled her nerves, but no other response; after her mild panic attack, she managed to finish off the Heartless around her within the next few minutes.

With the courtyard cleared, Taika went over to a set of double doors in the wall and pushed them open, walking into a small square just in time to see Sora collapse with a tall man standing over him.

"Sora!" Taika cried, her Keyblade appeared in her hand as she rushed to put herself between the stranger and her friend. "Leave him alone."

"Another one?" The man questioned quietly, blinking at her in vague disbelief, then he shook himself lightly. "My name is Leon, I was trying to get the Keyblade away from him so the Heartless will leave him alone for a little bit."

"And that involved beating him up, why?"

"He wouldn't listen to me; so I had to force the issue."

Taika glared at him for a long moment, before relaxing slightly, though she was still on guard until her pouch buzzed softly and she finally banished her own Keyblade. "Okay. Lead the way." Leon stared at her for another second, then bent over to lift Sora's unconscious form before turning and heading off down the street. They were met by a girl with choppy black hair almost immediately.

"Hey, you found it. Nice going, Leon." She then registered the extra person with her friend. "Who's the girl?"

"Another one. It looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse."

Taika made a small noise of agreement, surprising the two strangers, "I'll say. This is a mess, and of course I signed up to be right in the middle of it."

"Wait… you actually have an idea of what is going on?" The other girl asked incredulously.

"Not now, Yuffie." Leon interrupted. "We can talk more once we're inside."

Taika followed the two into a building where Leon dropped Sora onto the bed. Then, both of them turned to face her, but Taika stubbornly sat down in the corner of the room and ignored them in favor of watching over her unconscious friend.

Several minutes later Sora woke, groggy and asking for Kairi, and Taika stood from her spot on the floor to join him in sitting on the bed while Leon and Yuffie came in. Sora sat up and rubbed his head, "Tai…? What happened? Where are we?" Then his eyes found the gold and silver weapon leaning against the wall. "The Keyblade…"

"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures." Yuffie explained, "It turns out that was how they were tracking you."

"I still think beating him up and knocking him unconscious was unnecessary." Taika grumbled under her breath and Sora glanced at her with a small grin.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure I actually won that fight."

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long." Leon interrupted, staring at the spiky-haired boy. "Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." He picked up the Keyblade, but almost as soon as he had, it vanished in a gleam of sparkles and reappeared in Sora's hand. "Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers. And to top it all off we now have two Keyblade Wielders to worry about."

"Uh, we're right here, y'know." Taika pointed out with a hint of sarcasm, "and I would appreciate it if you would stop acting like we're some big disappointment. Sora beat you, after all, so either he doesn't deserve any of that attitude, or you're just weak. Take your pick."

Yuffie blinked, fighting a smile, at the younger girl's words while Leon simply glared, but Sora spoke up before the man could respond. "Why don't you start making sense?! What's going on here? And what do Taika and I have to do with it?"

Leon huffed in annoyance but it was Yuffie who answered. "The biggest thing you need to worry about are the Heartless."

"Heartless?"

"Those without hearts." Leon responded, as though that was supposed to clear everything up.

Taika rolled her eyes. "The monsters that attacked us on the Island, and then you probably ran into them here as well. I know I did."

"The darkness in people's hearts is what attracts them -"

"And there's darkness in every heart." Leon finished for Yuffie.

"A guy named Ansem was studying them, and things got out of control, but he said that the only thing that could stop them was a special Key." Yuffie picked up again, glaring lightly at Leon for interrupting her.

"And… this is that Key?" Sora asked, holding the Keyblade out in front of him.

"Exactly." Yuffie nodded.

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade - and both of you have one," Sora glanced at Taika as Leon spoke, confused, and Taika summoned her own Keyblade in explanation, "So they'll keep coming for you no matter what."

"I didn't ask for any of this…" Sora whispered, looking down at the Key in his lap and then over to Taika, who didn't say anything but smiled reassuringly at her friend.

"Well, the Keyblade chooses its master, and it chose you,"

"So tough luck." Leon tacked on to the end of Yuffie's response.

"How did this even happen, Tai? I remember being in my room…" his eyes widened and he stood with a gasp, "Wait a minute! What happened to our home? To Riku and Kairi?"

"I don't know, Sora…" Taika answered sadly, "I'd found Riku, but I don't remember what happened after I saw him on the beach. I just woke up here, with no idea where anyone was."

Yuffie made an attempt to lighten the mood - saying something about the Keyblade's ability to unlock pretty much anything - but it didn't work too well, especially as Leon started talking immediately afterwards. Seriously, would it kill the guy to be a little optimistic? "Sooner or later the Heartless will find you again. You'd best prepare yourselves."

"Prepare for what?" Sora asked.

"To fight for your lives," was the response, "are you ready?"

"We can handle it." Taika assured him, standing up, "Besides, we'll have each other to watch our backs."

Yuffie said something about taking the two to meet someone else, but those plans were cut short as a Heartless - a Soldier - appeared in the doorway. "Yuffie, go!" Leon ordered, drawing his gunblade and slamming the Heartless hard enough to send it flying out the window and into the Alley below, Leon following after it.

"Sora, c'mon!" Taika gripped her Keyblade tighter as the two of them joined Leon in the alley to see a swarm of Heartless.

"Don't bother with the small fry, find the Leader. Go!" Leon split off, running towards the doors to the Main District while Sora and Taika fought their way towards the Third District.

There was a loud noise and Taika only barely avoided being crashed into by two people. Sora wasn't so lucky. All three of them got to their hands and knees, groaning, then the two strangers gasped. "The Key!"

Before anything more could be said or done there was a rumbling sound and stone walls rose to block off all their exits; the next moment a huge Heartless appeared, looking like some sort of armor. It formed a twister and one of the newcomers was knocked out, the other going to help him. Sora and Taika both rushed it, their weapons clanging as they made contact. It took them a little while to take down the Guard Armor, even with the two others fighting as well, but they finally defeated it and watched as a large heart rose out of the ruins of the armor and vanished while the shell dissolved.

Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie came over as soon as the barriers came down, Aerith making sure that everyone was okay.

"So, you were looking for the Keyblade too, huh?" Taika asked the strangers, who introduced themselves as Donald and Goofy, and got affirmatives in response.

"Hey, why don't you come with us? We can go to other Worlds on our vessel." Goofy offered.

"Other Worlds, huh?" Sora mused, "I wonder if we could find Riku and Kairi..."

"It's probably our best chance," Taika answered, "we know they're not here, so it stands to reason that they could be on other Worlds."

"She's right, Sora. Go with them, especially if you want to find your friends." Leon stepped forward as he spoke.

"I guess so…" Sora sighed, staring at the ground.

Taika elbowed him playfully in the side as Donald wagged a finger at him. "But you can't come along looking like that. Understand? No frowning. No sad face. Okay?"

"Yeah, you gotta look funny. Like us!" Taika grinned at Goofy - an anthropomorphic dog and duck were certainly funny, though she probably wouldn't ever say that out loud - while Donald shoved him for the comment.

"This boat runs on happy faces."

"Happy?" Sora mused, to which Donald and Goofy offered him smiles. Sora leaned down, then looked up with a huge, cheesy grin on his face. Taika started laughing immediately, and the other two soon followed.

"Now that's one funny face, Sora!" Taika managed through her laughter, looping an arm around the boy's shoulder to keep herself upright. That was one of the things she loved about Sora. He always managed to lighten the mood, no matter what the situation might be.

"Alright, I guess that's that then. We're coming with you."

"All for one and one for all!" Goofy offered with a grin that both Keyblade Wielders returned.

They talked to Leon and the others again, who gave them some munny and a couple of healing elixirs, as well as a request to try and find the lost puppies of some friends of theirs. Donald quickly taught them a simple Fire spell and Goofy gave them some tips on dodging, then they all split up to explore a little more and to buy some supplies before they met up at the Gateway to the World - Traverse Town, Taika learned it was called - to head out.

As they blasted off, Taika looked out at the endless stars and offered a quiet plea. "Sentinels, please, watch out for Riku and Kairi. And help us find them."


End file.
